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Latest Gini Follow Focus – iFocus Review

Here's a closer look at Gini's latest Follow Focus a.k.a. 'iFocus'. Having been a huge fan of the Cinevate Durus design and quality, it was very obvious where Gini was getting inspiration from. I took the chance of ordering this latest FF knowing that it would be good. Especially since it's a custom designed gearbox and not the ol' Huco plastic Box. The craftmanship on this entire FF is like any other Gini part. Flawless machining, quality anodizing, and smooth finish. Absolutely no plastic on this follow focus system (except for marking ring).

The marking disc holds strong with 4 powerful magnets. The hand knob (obviously influenced) is large and comfortable with a standard mount in the center for a whip or crank. The Gini FF gear is 'reversible' and can be used on both left and right side of your rig by removing the rod clamp and swapping the position. The design is tall enough to hit lens gears on a variety of different sized lenses - No riser required (a problem some FFs have because they aren't designed tall enough). To put weight in to perspective, the Durus is 19.4 ounces and the Gini iFocus is 19 ounces, both very solid units.

The one thing that Gini falls short on is the marking disc pointer. It can only be used at the top position and makes it hard for you to see if you're standing from behind the camera. It would be nice to see that changed in future versions, and a couple of hard stops would make this one hell of an FF. Of course, I jumped on the deal early, but who knows where prices will be as this FF becomes more popular. You can find the Gini Rig parts following the link (click here).

Please excuse my lack of knowledge, but with this follow focus, do you need to install a lens gear? Or does it position itself agains the lens and use friction for the follow focus? If it uses a lens gear, do you have a recommendation on where to get those? I use a Canon 7D with a 28-135 IS USM and 50mm EF 1.8

Thanks Emm for this review! Got the Gini Follow Focus and the 15mm rail based cage to help the camera stay locked down. Love how you can flip the FF and use it upside down for Nikon AIS lenses so the wheel then turns the same direction as my Canon lenses when the Follow Focus is right side up.

Is there any trick to fliping the arm of the follow focus around (right when I unbox it)? Do I have to loosen something - it seems pretty tight. In your video review - you are flipping it around quite easily it seems...

This is an amazing piece of hardware. Build quality is bomb-proof, seems the only plastic on the entire FF is the marking disc. I was only able to measure appx. 0.75mm of backlash which is superb for a FF. The only downside is not having a movable stop for the marking disc, other than that these FF's are fantastic.

Hey Emm,
I having trouble choosing. There are two rigs I can´t seem to pick one over the oethr. One is the "ifocus" with free rig, which includes a simple rig, and then there is the Extreme 17, with free ff ( I know this is ginis olde version of the ff). I don´t know If I should get the better rig with older ff, or the new ff with the simple rig.
Can you help me out? How bad is the older ff?
Thanks Emm!!!

@spaceflows It's more of a cosmetic rip off with significant differences when you look at it up close. Gear box is way different than the Cinevate and custom made. And the Gini doesn't have a movable marker. It's fixed which I think is a big disadvantage. A nice ff for the money for sure.

I have two Gini rigs (legos for big boys) and love 'em! I am also a big supporter of small companies doing solid work, which Gini and Cinevate do... that is, until now. I am NOT a supporter of knock-offs and design thievery which Gini is clearly practicing here. Does no one else see how obvious the design theft is here on Gini's part??? Gini's FF is for all intent and purposes identical to the Cinevate FF!! Regardless of pricing this sort of trademark infringement is exactly the kind of thing making life so hard for honest, quality businesses like Cinevate. This sickens me, quite honestly. I know many of us don't have a lot of $$$ to spend on gear (me included) but there's something to be said about copy-cats and knock-offs of quality products. This gravely disappoints and my support of Gini is on the rocks since he is apparently becoming a knock-off artist as opposed to an innovator. I'm curious to see what Cinevate does once they get wind of this.

@apostolos - The old Gini was using a Huco gearbox. There's a bit of lash in there, but was the same thing Redrock Micro used for a while (not any more). This new one is far superior than his first version. The RJ simply can't compare to the Gini. Check out those small lens gears at http://www.wideopencamera.com

So, I received my Gini FF, the new one, which came bundled with a basic rig for $360. Not a bad deal at all. It seems very well made, as are all his rigs. Then again, I don't have gears nor experience with other FF to compare it to. So, I've got a couple of questions.

a) Any place to get inexpensive gears?
b) How does it compare to Gini's old style FF. He's got a couple of rigs that he bundles with the old style FF that I like.
c) How does Gini's old style FF compare to the RJ FF?

Thanks for the reply. I'm waiting for my Gini rig. And I just realized I don't have gears for it! Any place you recommend for inexpensive gears. Somebody left a link on another post. Always appreciate your reviews and the great stuff you find.

You mark your focus stops on the disk, and rotate from mark to mark to have your subjects in focus. Marking disk (white disk) rotates too, so marks you make on the disk align to the marker (metal bit). 🙂 not the simplest explanation, but you get it 🙂

At least thats how I understand it, I am also yet to use/buy one. An looking at all gininreviews it will probably be one of his.

Just what I can not work out is the difference between new and old ff. Somewhere he calls it iFocur, new flcus and somewhere just follow focus, but on his photos it looks the same. 🙂 How do I work out the difference?

@Gene - I have not seen the TrustMT, but i'm familiar with the design of the Cinevate Durus which drew me to test the Gini. For the price, it's unbeatable, but who knows what they'll be running at as it becomes more popular.

@apostolos - Yeah sorry, I meant pointer, but I think you get the idea. And yes you would use a 'dry erase marker' (not sharpie permanent) to mark your focus points. Then you can move the focus from one to the next and know for a fact that you're focus is super sharp. This is why people questions 'backlash' because if you turn the knob and there's a little bit of extra play, the focus could be slightly off.

Well, I bought one with a complete rig for $360 ($305 + $55 shipping) but I haven't received it yet. Even so, I don't have any experience with FF so I would not know what it compare it too. You kept saying "marking disc" in your video, but I'm assuming you meant "marking disc pointer." How do people usually use this, do they use the pointer as the end point for getting in focus, or do people mark the actual disc with a sharpie or something?

One more question on the Gini. Steven Ord. said his has "absolutely no backlash" while Em mentioned that his had a tiny bit of backlash. Does this mean QC problems? Or is that a common issue with follow focus, where 2 identical FFs can have a different degree of backlash? Does that mean that you just have to pray that you get a good one?

Hey Em, thanks for another great review. Quick question. I'm down to either the new Gini or the TrusMT follow focus. Which one do you recommend? Do you know if the TrusMT is mostly plastic? I like how the Gini is mostly metal

Looks really nice, all metal is great. Backlash seems to be the same as the DFocus- you ever tried that one? It'd be nice if it had zero backlash. I wonder why Gini wasn't able to accomplish that since it's all metal.
The weight seems like a disadvantage when doing handheld but I guess that's the price to pay when having something 'indestructible'.

I checked this out when you briefly mentioned it in another post and I bet on it. I ended up getting it for 152 minus shipping. I was impressed with the build quality. The one I got has absolutely no backlash. I must give you a thanks Emm...cheesycam commin through on the deals!

I bought mine for USD 299 with the DSLR rig included in the package. After seeing your video I believe I am going to enjoy this a lot. I already have a Shoot35 CINEfocus and can't wait to do some comparison.